Mazmur 5:3

5:3 Lord, in the morning ¹  you will hear ²  me; ³ 

in the morning I will present my case to you ⁴  and then wait expectantly for an answer. ⁵ 

Mazmur 15:3

15:3 He ⁶  does not slander, ⁷ 

or do harm to others, ⁸ 

or insult his neighbor. ⁹ 

Mazmur 22:15

22:15 The roof of my mouth ¹⁰  is as dry as a piece of pottery;

my tongue sticks to my gums. ¹¹ 

You ¹²  set me in the dust of death. ¹³ 

Mazmur 25:5

25:5 Guide me into your truth ¹⁴  and teach me.

For you are the God who delivers me;

on you I rely all day long.

Mazmur 27:11

27:11 Teach me how you want me to live; ¹⁵ 

lead me along a level path ¹⁶  because of those who wait to ambush me! ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 31:3

31:3 For you are my high ridge ¹⁸  and my stronghold;

for the sake of your own reputation ¹⁹  you lead me and guide me. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 45:14

45:14 In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king.

Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her,

are led before you. ²¹ 

Mazmur 71:20

71:20 Though you have allowed me to experience much trouble and distress, ²² 

revive me once again! ²³ 

Bring me up once again ²⁴  from the depths of the earth!

Mazmur 77:20

77:20 You led your people like a flock of sheep,

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Mazmur 78:13

78:13 He divided the sea and led them across it;

he made the water stand in a heap.

Mazmur 78:71

78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, ²⁵ 

and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,

and of Israel, his chosen nation. ²⁶ 

Mazmur 102:24

102:24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life! ²⁷ 

You endure through all generations. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 107:3

107:3 and gathered from foreign lands, ²⁹ 

from east and west,

from north and south.

Mazmur 125:5

125:5 As for those who are bent on traveling a sinful path, ³⁰ 

may the Lord remove them, ³¹  along with those who behave wickedly! ³² 

May Israel experience peace! ³³ 

Mazmur 143:11

143:11 O Lord, for the sake of your reputation, ³⁴  revive me! ³⁵ 

Because of your justice, rescue me from trouble! ³⁶ 

[5:3]  ¹ sn In the morning is here viewed as the time of prayer (Pss 59:16; 88:13) and/or of deliverance (Ps 30:5).

[5:3]  ² tn The imperfect is here understood in a specific future sense; the psalmist is expressing his confidence that God will be willing to hear his request. Another option is to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s wish or request. In this case one could translate, “Lord, in the morning hear me.”

[5:3]  ³ tn Heb “my voice.”

[5:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will arrange for you.” Some understand a sacrifice or offering as the implied object (cf. NEB “I set out my morning sacrifice”). The present translation assumes that the implied object is the psalmist’s case/request. See Isa 44:7.

[5:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I will watch.”

[15:3]  ⁶ sn Hebrew literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age.

[15:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “he does not slander upon his tongue.” For another example of רָגַל (ragal, “slander”) see 2 Sam 19:28.

[15:3]  ⁸ tn Or “his fellow.”

[15:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he does not lift up an insult against one who is near to him.”

[22:15]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhiy), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khikiy, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.

[22:15]  ¹¹ tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”

[22:15]  ¹² sn Here the psalmist addresses God and suggests that God is ultimately responsible for what is happening because of his failure to intervene (see vv. 1-2, 11).

[22:15]  ¹³ sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.

[25:5]  ¹⁴ sn The Lord’s commandments are referred to as truth here because they are a trustworthy and accurate expression of the divine will.

[27:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “teach me your way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here to the moral principles which he expects the psalmist to follow. See Ps 25:4.

[27:11]  ¹⁶ sn The level path refers to God’s moral principles (see the parallel line), which, if followed, will keep the psalmist blameless before his accusers (see v. 12).

[27:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “because of those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 54:5; 56:2.

[31:3]  ¹⁸ sn The metaphor of the high ridge pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[31:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “name.” The Hebrew term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) refers here to the Lord’s reputation. (The English term “name” is often used the same way.)

[31:3]  ²⁰ tn The present translation assumes that the imperfect verbal forms are generalizing, “you lead me and guide me.” Other options are to take them as an expression of confidence about the future, “you will lead me and guide me” (cf. NASB), or as expressing a prayer, “lead me and guide me” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[45:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “virgins after her, her companions, are led to you.” Some emend לָךְ (lakh, “to you”) to לָהּ (lah, “to her,” i.e., the princess), because the princess is now being spoken of in the third person (vv. 13-14a), rather than being addressed directly (as in vv. 10-12). However, the ambiguous suffixed form לָךְ need not be taken as second feminine singular. The suffix can be understood as a pausal second masculine singular form, addressed to the king. The translation assumes this to be the case; note that the king is addressed once more in vv. 16-17, where the second person pronouns are masculine.

[71:20]  ²² tn Heb “you who have caused me to see many harmful distresses.”

[71:20]  ²³ tn Heb “you return, you give me life.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense, indicating repetition of the action described by the following verb. The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.) Another option is to understand this as a statement of confidence, “you will revive me once again” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[71:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “you return, you bring me up.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense, indicating repetition of the action described by the following verb. The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.) Another option is to understand this as a statement of confidence, “you will bring me up once again” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[78:71]  ²⁵ tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”

[78:71]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”

[102:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “do not lift me up in the middle of my days.”

[102:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in a generation of generations [are] your years.”

[107:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “from lands.” The word “foreign” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[125:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and the ones making their paths twisted.” A sinful lifestyle is compared to a twisting, winding road.

[125:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “lead them away.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer here (note the prayers directly before and after this). Another option is to translate, “the Lord will remove them” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[125:5]  ³² tn Heb “the workers of wickedness.”

[125:5]  ³³ tn Heb “peace [be] upon Israel.” The statement is understood as a prayer (see Ps 122:8 for a similar prayer for peace).

[143:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[143:11]  ³⁵ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 11-12a are understood as expressing the psalmist’s desire. Note the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.

[143:11]  ³⁶ tn Heb “by your justice bring out my life from trouble.”